Sunglasses at Night
by QiZ
Summary: A story of Protoman, the clothes he wears, and what they represent.
1. Prologue

**Sunglasses at Night**

**A Prologue**

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><p>A quiet day in the city of monsteropolis, blue sky, yellow sun, black hooded thugs with grey guns holding up the first national bank.<p>

"This. Is. A. Robbery!"

The first man walked in, punctuating each word with a bullet shot into the ceiling. As people ran for cover, or just fell to the ground sobbing 'Don't hurt me!' The other two hooded men behind him chuckled and waved their pistols haphazardly, laughing at the flinches and cries from each hostage on the floor.

"Good, nice to know you all know the rules. Now, play nice and we can all leave in time to be on the 9 o'clock news..."

As back up ran up to each window, waving both the empty bag he came in with and a pistol in the other hand, the first looked around pleased, no one trying to be a hero, the only authority figure here is a fat, worn out, rent-a-cop, blubbering in the corner no other police of any sort around, for now.

"Hmm?"

Wait, in the back, still a guy standing?

He's just waiting at the window like it was any other trip to the bank!

"Oi, what's your problem then?"

Back up had just reached the guy's window, and he still hadn't moved an inch.

"You deaf? We've got pistols-,"

_Blam! Blam! Blam!_

Three shots initiated screams from the crowd on the floor,

"-Loaded pistols boy, now get on the floor!"

And when the guy still wouldn't answer, he lifted his arm,

"Look boy, if you want to be a bloody hero-"

"Don't. We can't risk getting caught up with murder charges."

A hand on his shoulder and a hard stare stopped the back up from doing anything that would make them public enemies number 1,

"Go get the other windows."

The first nodded behind him and when back up followed the orders, he turned to the man. Still standing, his eyes covered by a pair of sunglasses,

"Get down."

The first jammed his fist into the small of the mans back, but to no response, the guy didn't even flinch!

"~"

And now he's whisleing? Alright time to show some respect for the guy with the gun...

"Look kid, if you don't get down, I'll have to make you get down."

The gun poking the back of his head, the kid knew what was what, but he still wouldn't even turn!

"Oi! Wots this? Ice cream? Why ya shouldn't have!"

Both the guy and the first turned to watch as back up had seemed to finish up with his duties and was now stealing an ice cream cone from a sobbing little girl,

"Now that's just crass."

"Oh, so now you talk! Well too late!"

The guy now turned to face the first and his gun head on,

"You should've spoke up sooner! You could've prevented this. Let this teach you, when a man with a gun wants your attention, GIVE IT TO HIM!"

A calculated turn, a few inches, deflected the bullet towards the back up, dropping the ice cream, he fell to the ground,

"AHHHH! DAMN IT ALI!"

"Ali, nice name. I will remember it."

With each step the guy took, the first took two. He didn't even have a scratch on his face where the bullet hit him!

"W-what y-your, your a-a-"

_smack!_

A fist to his nose sharply dropped the first, who crumpled to the ground.

"I will assume you two have noticed that rubber bullets would not do any damage to me, so you will try to attack me."

The guy addressed the other two that came in. They looked at each other for a second and both came to the same conclusion,

"Run away!/AHHHHH!"

"... Or not."

They didn't get very far as a red and white helmet dropped the one closest to the double doors. Only one left, his black shirt still stained with the vanilla ice cream he had taken from the little girl. "It is not nice to just take ice cream."

"AHHHHHH!"

Bullets fired randomly at his vicinity, luckily he wasn't hitting any hostages, but the guy had better take him out quick. Running, the guy hit him square off on the jaw, knocked out cold.

"Huph."

The guy scoffed, turning to where he threw his helmet, he picked it up and rifled through his pockets till he found a few coins. Stepping over the back up and crouching down he dropped the coins in her hands.

"Here little girl, get two scoops this time. I am sorry that the mean man took your ice cream."

Standing up, he took his helmet in his hand and walked out with out a word, even with the half dozen or so voices telling him to 'wait!'

With out a word, Protoman put on his helmet and pulled out his visor over his sunglasses, and kicked alive his motorcycle. Scarf dancing in the wind, he left the first national bank of  
>Monsteropolis behind minutes before any policeman hit the scene.<p>

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><p>First Story ever on-line so... Hi! You can call me Alex!<p>

_My Name is QiZ! (Pronounced Quiz) And as you can see from my stylish font, I am the brains of the operation._

**I'm Xando (Pronounced how ever the #!* I want it to be) And I'm here to be awesome.**

Now that I'm posting this, I can figure how nice it'd be to be reviewed.

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	2. Boots for the Mud

** ~Sunglasses at Night~**

**Chapter 1:**

**Boots for the Mud**

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><p>Some time before a few minutes ago...<p>

He... was kinda important.

He smiled to himself as he thought,

'Kinda important?'

Running for the next mayor election of Monsteropolis, if he won, strike that when he won, he would probably have to give up a lot of the power he already had. With the right connections you could do anything, and Keiji Mann had those connections. Of course, he would never get too big for his britches to not pay tribute to where he came from, and when he became mayor, he might even put up a statue of himself, with some lines about how you can 'do whatever you want to despite where you come from' or some other self motivational spew that they tell children these days. Monsteropolis did have many skyscrapers that the city is known for, the product of great progress for man, progress that has made a city where almost no man would go with out to feed his children. Of course, progress didn't mean perfection, even a city like this has slums where the ones who fell through the cracks lived. Homeless people, users, back alley business, could all be found here in the slums. You couldn't even shake a stick without meeting another street urchin looking to steal the contents of your pockets. The buildings boarded shut and abanondoned streets belayed a horrible monster, a monster from where he had crawled out of and became a successful politician. Many faces where stepped on and quite a few promises broken, but who cares? Walking through these empty streets now made him feel like a better man, awesome and humble alike.

"Bwa!"

A little boy hadn't been watching where he was walking, and now was sprawled out on the ground,

"Watch where your walking boy!" Mann puffed out his chest and pointed to himself with a thumb constrained by a gold ring,

"Don't you know who I am?" The boy's eyes went wide behind round spectacle frames with realization,

"You! Your that rich guy that came from the slums too! " Picking himself up and wiping off the dust from his blue t-shirt, the boy spoke with an air of awe,

"I do know who you are, sorry for bumping into you Mr. Mann!"

Huph, that was better, nice to know that even little street urchins knew his name,

"Well watch where your going next time- Huh?" Mann felt a gentle tug at his back pocket, the right one, the one holding his wallet,

"Hey! Get away, brat! You can't get me, I came from here, I know ALL your tricks!"

Back handing the 'brat' hard on his cheek, Mann chuckled as he watched the kid run away, black windbreaker dancing in the wind,

"Hump, the nerve of some idiots. Boy, see that you get out of these slums. Be like me, successful at everything you do."

"Yes sir, thank you for the advice sir." The boy nodded his head and stuck out his hand, waiting for him to shake it, which he did almost reluctantly.

Walking away, Mann's ego felt even bigger than usual. He still had it, no snot nosed punk could even come close to pulling one over him, and that polite little kid? He laughed at the thought of him ever being a great as he was. Oh yeah, he would certainly put up that statue of himself, after tearing down every building here of course. Who would want a brand new iron statue in the middle of some backwater slums? The name 'Mann Park' sounded just perfect to him!

A Few minutes ago...

"Hah! How easy was that Spades?" King hopped up and down in anticipation as Spades tossed him the wallet that he had lifted off of 'Mr. Mann',

"That fat cat couldn't have been easier to rip off if he just had given us the money!" Pushing up his round glasses up onto the rim of his nose, Spades eyed the red welt that had raised where Mann's rings had hit King's cheek,

"Yeah, easy for me. How's your cheek? He seemed to have hit you really hard, man."

Rifling through the contents of the wallet, King counted the green bills in them: One hundred, Two hundred, Three hundred, Five hundred, Six hundred!- All the idiot had in his wallet was hundreds, how stupid! Everyone knows you can't shake a stick in the slums without hitting another street urchin that wants to take your wallet.

"I'm fine, at least we both are now! You know how hard it is to hurt me..." Shoving the wallet into Spades' hand, King started jumping again.

"How much is in there?"

"Enough to make sure that won't go hungry for some time again!"

"Huh. Well boys dat do seem like a bit much for just da two of ya."

Stiffening, King and Spades each felt a hand on a shoulder. Turning, they both saw that the hands belonged to the street bully,

"Able? W-what do you want?" Spades stuttered, noticing the gaggle of other significantly bigger guys circling around them,

"Aww, nothing much. Just ya winnings offa dat rube."

"R-rube?" Spades was obviously stalling now, hoping for a miracle before Able and his thugs took all the money they had, leaving them with nothing to feed themselves,

"Rube, Mark, Victim, dat fat man you just took all dis money from. Yeah, I know dat my talk ain't what you used to, but is Carney talk dat hard to understand?"

Slapping Spades' head and knocking off his glasses, Able sneered,

"Grrr, enough!" Fed up, King shoved Able down to the ground and took Spades by the arm to make a break for it. Only to be stopped by the gaggle of guys standing about.

"Dat wasn't da smartest idea ever." Getting up Able held up a hand to signal to the others to spread King's arms wide,

"Now get ready kiddies, time for a rustabout!"

_Smack!_

"King!" Spades struggled, trying to break free to help,

_Smack!_

_Smack!_

"Is that all you got?" King muttered, unable to bring his voice higher,

"Oh yea? Well take dis!" "~" The tune in the air surprised Able,

"Huh? Whistling?"

Some time before a few minutes ago...

Protoman could be called many things. Aloof? Yes. Quiet? Definitely. But not heartless. Never heartless. Walking down the slum streets, he held over his shoulder a bag filled with food. The streets here where dirty and unkempt, if only to match the people living here. Those who lived in the higher class streets chasted those that lived here for not being able to pick themselves up and get a job, while they throw away money for the most ridiculous things; A hundred dollars if he could out run the fastest bully in their neighborhood? The others that had taken that bet hadn't thought about what would've happened if they didn't outrun him, three in the hospital and many others much smaller than the teenagers that put up the money. They stopped when they saw what Protoman could do, not that he did anything to hurt them, just crushed a rock in his bare hand and told them to stop, or he would come back. It was bad, peoples living conditions here. But all he could do was drop out some foods that he didn't need and make sure that it was given to someone who would evenly distribute it all. No one knew what he looked like, dropping what he left at places where it would be found, no one ever saw him. These people needed a different type of hero from himself or his brother, a different breed of hero. ... Hmm?

_Smack!_

"King!"

_Smack_

_Smack_

"Is that all you got?"

Dropping the sack, Protoman had to think of a way to draw attention to himself... "~"

Now...

"And who is dis? A wannabe biker friend of yours? Well he won't save you two!"

Signaling to his followers to hold them both down, Able turned to face the new arrival. Who, in turn, looked back behind a pair of over-sized glasses,

"Excuse me, but I don't actually think dat I've ever seen you around. I'm Able" Sticking his hand in front of Protoman's face, he smiled and waited for him to shake it so he could crush his hand.

But when he didn't, the smile quickly turned into a sneer, "Hey, man? You in dere?"

Snapping his fingers in front of the Proto's face, Able did wonder if he heard him but just ended up thinking that he was ignoring him.

"So you want ta play around?" Winding back his arm, he warned, "You'll have to move if you don't want dis to hit ya! Hayah!"

Stopping his hand inches before it connected with Protoman's nose, Able earned flinches from both King and Spades. But nothing from Protoman.

"Grrr..."

"Ha! Made ya flinch!" Quickly regaining his composure, Able decided to act the fool. Turning to face his followers, he laughed and chuckled.

Turning fast to land a punch, Able grinned when he heard his fist go.

_Smack_

"Heh, he- What?"

Protoman was holding his fist in his own hand. Not squeezing but not loosely, he just held it.

"Grrr. Oh yeah tough guy? Take this!"

_Smack_

The other fist met Protoman's other palm, now unable to move Able could hear muttering amongst his followers.

'Yeah'

'Really tuff.'

'Why is he even the boss?'

'I know! He can't even take down a kid half his size!'

"Shut Up!" Able barked, and they did,

"Listen up you rubes. This kid here ain't nothing! Watch and remember why I'm the boss!"

Pulling back his head, Able planned on teaching both his followers and Protoman a lesson in messing with him. "Heah!"

_Clank!_

A dull sound of metal being struck could almost be heard for a second, but was quickly masked by the sound of Able's followers running away. Their 'boss' unconscious on the ground, blood leading a tiny trickle down his forehead where he tried to stun Protoman with a headbutt as strong a he could. There was a lull of silence as both King and Spades stood staring at Protoman, who just fixed his sunglasses and picked up his bag once more.

"Here." Tossing the bag to a stunned King, Protoman turned to leave.

"W-wait!" Spades called out, "Spades, let the guy go man!" King whispered to his friend frantically but was ignored,

"This is yours. Right?" Out of his pocket Spades pulled something out and tossed it to Protoman, who looked at it with surprise.

"How did you-"

"Find it?" Spades cut him off,

"You rode here on a motorcycle right? Everyone heard that, it isn't a very common sound you hear here. Everyone was looking to find and take it, you just happened to hide it next to our usual spot."

"Did I? Well thank you for giving it back." Clutching his motorcycle key tight, Protoman let the little figurine of his brother that was its key chain hang as he turned once more.

"Huh?" Deciding to peek into the bag they where given, King and Spades saw an entire feast's worth of food!

"You're the guy that leaves the food for the others! Wh-" Looking up, Protoman was not there anymore. Just empty streets and the sound of a motorcycle in the distance.

"How did he do that?" Spades gaped, pondering what had just happened,

"Who cares man? We have enough money and food to get out of this place! And stay out! And live like real Kings! And-" A hand on King's shoulders calmed him down before he got ahead of himself.

Sighing, King asked, "We're not really going to keep the food are we?"

"Nuh-uh."

"And the money?"

"We're giving half of it to people who need it more than we do." Spades replied.

Another sigh and King started to walk down the street, sack over his shoulder, and with Spades next to him,

"Hey, why did you shake the fat man's hand? That wasn't part of the plan." Grinning, Spades shook his sleeve and pulled out a solid gold ring, one that had been on Mann's thumb until some time ago, and gave it to King,

"When I saw how he hit you, I couldn't help but get a personal shot in. You can't hurt one of us without the other right here to help him."

Grinning himself, King put on the ring, saw how it shined, and put a hand around Spades' shoulder in gratitude,

"Thanks man."

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><p><em>(Note: Rustabout doesn't actually mean fight or beating someone up, it means a manual laborer. At a circus or something. That slipup is suppost to show that Able wasn't really a carney, he just tells everybody he is to sound cool.)<em>

So, what do you think of the story so far?

_We've apperently got the vibe of an old cartoon going on. We'd like to keep that._

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	3. A Scarf for the Wind

She lived in on the outskirts of Monsteropolis, out atop in the grassy hills. Not very far from where he was starting, but still a ways away. Sighing, with each step he took accompanied by a wince, he started for the destination that could be seen in the distance; a simple rose red house, with a glass dome atop to be used as a laboratory.

On her bed humming silently to herself, Kalinka sat with a content Skullman running each of his ivory fingers into her hair. Eyes darting across the yellow painted room, Kalinka seemed happy to just lay there lazily with the pleasant breeze of summer blowing over them through her open balcony door,

"Hmmm, Skully?"  
>Shutting her eyes she seemed to snap Skullman out of the daze his repetitive activity had put him in,<p>

"Yes, Miss Kalinka?"

"When is my father going to be back again?" Being asked to work with Dr. Light for some help on a project he was working on, her father didn't really get home until quite late, late enough to expect her to be asleep by then. Still, either she or 'Skully' usually had some form of dinner layed out for him before he went to sleep, and when he woke up once more he kissed the bridge of her nose and went out once more. So was the routine for half a month, but today they were to finish the job and he was to come home early, "Dr. Cossack will return in approximately an hour and forty-five minutes, Miss Kalinka." Skullman said, ceasing to stroke her hair as she sat up out of his lap, letting her yellow gold hair fall down her shoulders,

"Well then will you excuse me Skully? I'd like to take a small nap, and then afterwards we can make father a big dinner for when he arrives!" Turning to face Skullman and beaming brightly, Kalinka received a small nod from the pure white robot as he got up, and fell back onto her silver bed covers with a

_whump_

as the creak of her door shutting could be heard behind her.

'Poor Skull.' She thought, once more staring at the celing of her room, 'He's all alone with only me to keep him company, he must feel so lonely.' Her eyes felt heavy as she yawned, she had tried to stay up a few times to see if she could meet her father when he arrived, but each time falling short and cutting her time asleep in half,

'He can't go with any of the others, they all have special jobs that would be dangerous to anyone but them, I wonder if he's sad, I wonder if he wished he was one of them, I wonder-'

_Meow_

"Meow?" Kalinka's eyes snapped open. She didn't have a cat, he father having allergies against them. Standing up she looked around her room trying to find the source of the mew, turning to the open balcony door another quiet Meow could be heard just out side,

"Hmm?"

_Meow_

From atop a tree sat a bright green feline, barely visible behind the green background of the trees' leaves,

"Tango! What are you doing here? Your far from home little one."

_Meow_

Tango mewed once more, dropping from the branch oh-so-daintily on his own four paws. Kalinka giggled as he rubbed against her bare feet purring contently, even made of metal, Tango did have a certain feeling that only a kitten could give out,

"Now how did you get here?" Picking him up and cradling the cat like a baby, Kalinka murmured to herself,

"B-blues?" Jumping, she felt Tango pounce out of her arms as Kalinka stepped forward towards the bushes that the whistle had come from, Protoman did visit her on occasion, never with any warning but not exactly with no reason,

"W-why are you here?" The simple statement carried more meaning than she had meant, it almost seemed heartless,

"I need some help." The answer came simply from the same set of bushes,

"With what would you need my help Blues?" Taking even more steps forward, Kalinka wondered why he wouldn't come out from hiding. Suddenly the bushes started shaking and another

_Meow_

could be heard from Tango as they saw Protoman come out from hiding. Helmet dropping off on the ground next to Tango, some of the less stubborn brown hairs clung to his forehead just over his sunglasses with a sheen of what seemed like water covering his entire body; not sweat he didn't sweat, but that wasn't the most visible problem. Patches of his bruised and purple chest could be seen through holes in his previously pure white shirt and red jacket, scratches and what could only be called black oily discharge covered his arms and legs, he seemed to be in pain as he only could stand straight with the help of the tree he was leaning on; a mess, was all that could be said of his appearance,

"W-what happened?"  
>Frantically asking, Kalinka rushed to his side and gave him a shoulder to lean atop on, trying to lead him into the balcony door that led to her room, Protoman shook his head and slowly kneeled on the soft grass,<p>

"N-not your room, wouldn't want to dirty up your roommmmm-" With that last sentence he passed out in Kalinka's arms. Energy exhausted, Protoman seemed like a simple lifeless doll, pure white skin and flawless design all.

"Mmmm, huh?" Protoman blinked his eyes open behind his blank blacked out sunglasses, eyes resting on Kalinka's hunched over back. Sitting softly on his chest to examine the damaged parts of his legs through the open panels on his thighs, he coughed and asked,

"Am I fixed yet?" Looking up at the sound of her patient being awake, Kalinka looked over her shoulder and smiled,

"No," she said simply, turning back to her work,

"Your arms and chest were left relatively alone somehow, but your legs were torn up from the inside. Hundreds of pounds of concussive pressure had to have hit you to mess up your legs like this."

Laying his head back down, Protoman smiled painfully, "Then it is a good thing you know how to repair me." Setting down one pick of her fathers robotic tools on the grass next to her and picking up another, Kalinka sighed softly,

"I still do not understand why you wouldn't just go home to be 'repaired' Blues, you know-"

"That place is NOT my home." Picking up his head too quickly, Protoman winced as he corrected the girl,

"The place where you were born is not your home?" She asked quietly,

"The place where you first met your father, the place where-"

"I was betrayed, the place where I was almost murdered," Protoman spoke bitterly and softly. Kalinka got up from his chest and closed the panel in his thigh shut, now turning and looking over his left arm with a soft touch, she replaced the tool from her hand with another from the grass,

"That isn't what happened Blu-"

"If I have listened to all the others that have tried to tell me otherwise, why would you change my mind?" Protoman asked coldly, looking away. As if he felt something wrong, Tango suddenly jumped up from his napping spot, a ray of sunlight, and walked, step by step slowly, over to Protoman, nuzzling his neck.

"And how did that happen?" Kalinka asked, glad for a change of subject,

"How did you manage to change his contempt for you into love? Before you couldn't come in his line of sight without him hissing at you," Realization crept over her face,

"How did you even get these wounds, Blues?" Looking over her ward with a worried gaze, Kalinka's stare made Protoman look away with a face that almost seemed embarrassed,

"I lost a fight...

With a train."

"What?" She dropped the tool from her hand and looked at him, shocked,

He got stuck to the magnetic rail, I found him and saw that the train was about to run him over, I slid into the ditch to pull him off, but I got stuck myself..."

As he finished, Protoman looked at Kalinka once more, and saw that she was stifling back giggles with a hand, "...What's so funny about that?" Reaching over to pet Tango behind his ear, Kalinka smiled and said,

"Nothing, it is just clear why Tango here seems to love you now, you risked his life for him." Grinning from ear to ear, Kalinka put back down the tool from her hand and patted Protoman's chest,

"You're all ready to go patient Blues, all fixed." Wincing as he tried to sit up, Protoman felt her hand on his chest push him back down,

"Wait! I fixed you so that you can walk, but you should try to exert yourself too much, it would still hurt, your body is barely recovering." Pushing her hand away, Protoman stood straight, but fell over, forcing him to hold on to a nearby tree,

"Hey!" Kalinka stepped to his side,

"Let me dull the pain, at least, I can turn your nerves off for now-"

"No." Protoman said,

"This was my mistake, I got careless, and I have to pay for that."

"... How did you get stuck?" Kalinka asked, and at his puzzled look she elaborated,

"You said that Tango was stuck on the magnetic rail, but you are surely strong enough to pull away, how did you get stuck?" Protoman raised a hand to his neck, where a bright yellow scarf laid, tail hanging down the lenght of his back, a single tear sat at the end of that tail, blowing in the breeze.

Realizing what happened, Kalinka sighed,  
>"My gift to you, you didn't want it to rip. I am so sorry."<p>

Turning, Protoman said, "Don't be."

And walked back out through the bushes he came from. _Meow!_

"Hmm?" Tango could be heard from behind that same bush that Protoman just walked through, obviously wanting atention,

"What's wrong Tango?"

Peering through the leaves, Kalinka saw that Tango was pawing at a box on the ground. Red and topped with a white bow, Kalinka reached for it and opened it, revealing a yellow scarf, much like Protoman's, and two single words on a note: 'Thank You.' Smiling, Kalinka put the scarf on, walked back to her home, and started humming a tune,

"~"

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><p><strong>... (Dot Dot Dot) ...<strong>

_Not much to say..._

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	4. Sunglasses to watch you

"Hump" Protoman grunted in irritation as he looked out all around him from the top of the building that stood in the center of the city's biggest crosswalk. Why did Light need a robotic cat, did he really feel the need to show off that much when he could just buy a feline of his very own? Why just arbitrarily build life so randomly? Why make a being with it's own thoughts, it's own impulses, it's own feelings... if you had such a simple, alternate, choice? He'd just end up regretting the choice you had made, and end up wanting to get rid of it...

As the crosswalk below him became flooded with people walking in every whichway, a streak of bright green crossed the corner of Protoman's eye, turning to try and pinpoint where he saw it, he found his target out in the open. Tango was sitting down in front of a staircase that went down to the ground and into a blue door, only a few blocks away from the street crossing his chosen spot was far enough to have only a few trickles of the original flow of people walk past him, but close enough to have a few choice rays of sunlight shine down on him. Protoman steeled himself as he jumped from atop the building and landed in the alley with a 'Thud', Time to go bring that feline menace to safety once more.

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><p>Swaying to and fro on her seat, twisting her brown hair on her finger, Marcata wondered if she could really pull it off. Looking around, she saw just a few old men sitting in a back corner booth talking the day away, something about 'good old days' she didn't know what. Right behind her she saw some girl sitting at a table with a pink dress on, twirling a glass of clear liquid around in her hand, she didn't quite look old enough to be in here but then again Marcata shouldn't have been talking, she only looked old enough to be in here. Aside from a pool table in the corner of the bar to her right that was occupied by a pair of kids playing pool, it didn't seem like there were many people in the bar... She might as well try.<p>

"Achem. Excuse me?" Calling out to the bartender with his back to her she tried to put on the most mature voice that she could imitate,

"Ahh, yes ma'am? What would you like?"

Yes! It seemed that her plan was working! Even when he looked not quite at her in the eye he didn't seem to think that she was suspicious at all! Now she just had t- she had to-

... Wow, up close the bartender really did seem to be kind of cute, kinda tall, and his eyes are a really pretty shade of grey,

"Uhh, ma'am? Would you like something to drink?" Snapping out of it, Marcata stammered,

"W-Would I like something to drink? Uhm, yes please. I'd like a-"

'Creaaaaak' The back door next to the end of the bar swung loudly on its hinges, out from the alley that it led to came a woman in a skin tight green tank top and jeans,

"Your shift's over Chase," She said, sticking her thumb over her shoulder,

"you can leave now."

"Y-yes ma'am" The cute bartender, Chace, stuttered, blushing red, while he nodded and pointed to Marcata,

"I just need to serve her and then I'll be gone." She turned to look at Marcata... And had a look of recognition flash over her face,

"Crap" Marcata mumbled under her breath,

"No need, I'll serve her. Actually we know each other, and we have unfinished business to attend to..." Looking back and forth between the new woman and the girl sitting at the bar trying to hide underneath the brim of her hat, Chase desided not to get in the middle of this, whatever this might be,

"Sure, I guess I'll see you tomorrow, Caesura." Walking out from behind the bar, Marcata gave him a little smile and a wave as he put on the jacket he grabbed from the coat hanger,

"Bye." she mouthed. Chase risked a smile back and at the sight of his boss's face, went out the door without a moment's thought,

"..."

"..." The silence in the air was palpable, until Marcata decided to break it that is,

"So he's cute, do you know his number or someth-"

"What are you doing her again Mar?" Her hand slammed against the bar top,

"Didn't I tell you to never come here? Just cause I own the place doesn't mean that you can come in here, try to get some alcohol and flirt with my only employee!"

"Nice to see you too sis," Marcata pouted,

"And just to let you know, I only came in here for the alcohol, your cute bartender friend was just a plus."

"Get. Out. Now."

"You don't tell me what to do!" Raising her voice, Caesura was worried that her little sister might scare off what little customers she had, but to her relief, no one in the bar seemed to notice,

"It's my bar." She whispered back to sister, dead serious in her tone,

"Fine. But don't expect me to be home any time soon, I'll be staying over at Rhyme's place..." Getting up in a huff, Marcata picked up her bag and stomped over to the door. Which she slammed. Hard.

'I'll have to worry about her later.' Caesura sighed as she put on a happy face and went to serve a bunch of old men at the back in a corner, they were calling for more beer...

* * *

><p>"Hump"<p>

Protoman grunted as he walked down the alleyway. It was dark and damp and the skys overhead where beginning to become cloudy, he'd better find Tango soon,

"Mew"

Huh? Where did that come from?

"Meow"

It was louder now, he could tell that it came from even farther down into the alley. The mews sounded distressed now, breaking into a sprint, Protoman could see a field of grass just up ahead,

"Thank you kitty cat." The little girl said to Tango, who was in her arms, enjoying being scratched behind his ears,

"..."

"Well hello there, it's nice to finally meet you." Looking around, Proto saw that he was standing in the middle of once was a backyard of a number of apartment complexes, they all stood dilapidated and busted now, of course, but this field of grass and flowers was untouched and still green,

"Beautiful isn't it?" The girl bent over and picked up a blue flower from the many that grew all around,

"You should savor times like this. Quiet times I mean. You never know when they might be gone." She picked off petals one by one from the stem, each falling to the ground one after the other, except for one. One clinged to the hem of her pink dress, not that she appeared to notice, she just walked ahead towards Protoman and whispered,

"Or do you just want to go back to when you helped your brother in his war for 'everlasting piece'?" She stood at a head shorter, but with her words, she seemed to impose such a bigger figure,

"I... truly don't know what you are talking about," Protoman turned to leave and motioned for tango to follow,

"thank you for finding my friend, but I do have to g-"

"Do you really have to leave Blues?" She smiled, "Can't you stay for a while?"

Stopping in his tracks, Protoman looked over his shoulder coolly at this mistery girl,

"Don't worry, I'm not an enemy. I'm just someone who wants to help. Or are you wondering how I know that name? Let me even the field; my name is Rest, nice to meet you." She stuck out her hand as if it was the most casual thing to do in the world. Protoman turned to fully face her and asked,

"What do you want?"

"For you to shake my hand."

"..." When he didn't, Rest signed and dropped it,

"Do you really enjoy this slow life Blues? An existence of just passing through? Or do you ever want to have an adventure of your own? To be the hero everyone praises instead of the one in the shadows?" Despite the venom she seemed to put in her words, the smile never left Rest's face, it was uncanny.

"The next adventure will come soon, I hope you're ready."

"What do you know about Wily?" Protoman asked, uncertain if to even take her seriously,

"Wily? Absolutely nothing, mad scientists are not my forte," She giggled, "but I do know that this adventure will be different from all the others you have braved, I hope you can win."

"Meow!"

Turning to see what had happened to tango to make him screech so horribly, only to find him licking his paw lazily in one of the final rays of sunlight that managed to make it through the cloudy sky. When he turned back Protoman found nothing but an empty field of flowers,

"..."

From the sky, a single clear blue drop fell on his glasses, many others following. In a matter of seconds the rain was pouring down,

"Let's go Tango,"

Wrapping the grey feline under his red jackets arm so he wouldn't get wet, Protoman walked back down the alley he came from...

* * *

><p>"Iz ze preparazions complete? Are zey villing?" He asked, his face shrouded in shadows that covered the room,<p>

? smirked, playing with a square object no bigger than a playing card cut in half on his knuckles, "Complete, ready, willing, prepared to fight."

? lifted his hand over his head and let the object slip through his fingers, "Perfvict, I have high expectations for you, I do hope you do not diszpoint..."

Slashing his hand through the air, ? let out a laugh that resonated through out the room, "I'm your most perfect creation, I don't think that I'll disappoint anyone."

"Just remember, I can just az ezaily recreate a better you, if needed of course."

"It won't be." Holding the chip in between his thumb and finger, ? slammed it into his gauntlet and walked away, his right hand glowing purple.


	5. Sorry Reader

I'm sorry to anyone who actually liked this story...

**Fuck chapter stories.**

_It's just a bit too much to take care of._

And then I feel like crap for not writing anything.

**We're just gonna stick with oneshots for now.**

Once more, so sorry.

_We might come back to it when we feel we can do the story justice._

**I'm not going to say read our other stories because that sounds flaky.**

Why don't you go out and find a better story? There are lots of those in this website.


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